[Frontispiece: "I Fine You One Hundred Dollars and Costs!"]
The Pony Rider Boys in New England
or
An Exciting Quest in the Maine Wilderness
by
Frank Gee Patchin
Author of the Pony Rider Boys in the Rockies, The Pony Rider Boys in
Texas, The Pony Rider Boys in Montana, The Pony Rider Boys in the
Ozarks, The Pony Rider Boys in the Alkali, The Pony Rider Boys in New
Mexico, The Pony Rider Boys with the Texas Rangers, The Pony Rider
Boys on the Blue Ridge, etc., etc.
Illustrated
Philadelphia
Henry Altemus Company
Copyrighted, 1924, by
Howard E. Altemus
Printed in the
United States of America
Contents
CHAPTER I--A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT
The original wonder of Chillicothe. Tad makes a sacrifice for his
mother's sake. Plotters get their heads together. A Pony Rider Boy
left behind. A dash to the open country.
CHAPTER II--CAMPING ON THE PISCATAQUI
Words of wisdom from the guide. Chunky's proposal is voted down.
Tad Butler surprises his fellows. An exhibition of horsemanship. "I
never saw anything like that outside of a circus."
CHAPTER III--A JOYFUL REUNION
A gentleman in the woodpile. A name with a handle at both ends. Tad
voices his regrets. Indian Charlie John joins the outfit. Wild
howls startle the Pony Rider camp.
CHAPTER IV--BAITING THE HONEY BEES
The Indian's pack lands on Chunky. "I'm killed! I'm killed!" Cale
Vaughn shows the boys how to lure the bees. Stacy gets a new idea.
Tad learns to walk up a tree.
CHAPTER V--NEW TRICKS IN WOODCRAFT
Camp making a science. How to make a browse-bed. How to cache food
so animals cannot get it. Why the boy's fire always failed. Making
a fire in the rain. The woodsman's trick.
CHAPTER VI--THE FAT BOY'S REVENGE
In the heart of the big woods. Coons hold nightly conversations.
Stacy loses himself six times in one morning. Oil of anise draws
unwelcome visitors. Bees in force attack the Indian.
Chapter VII--STAMPEDED BY AN INTRUDER
A bear come to camp on the anise trail. Charlie John up a tree.
What happened when the bear kissed Chunky. "Fat boy him up a tree."
Tad ropes Mr. Bruin; then the fun begins.
CHAPTER VIII--AN INTERRUPTED FORAGE
The bear gets a section of Tad's trousers. Boys take to the trees
and Bruin takes the camp. Cale shoots to kill. Stacy's practical
joke is exposed. "The boss bee was scouting me."
CHAPTER IX--BEAR STEAK FOR BREAKFAST
Bruin causes a change of camp. Chunky's heart is weak when there is
work to do. Learning to make a "kitchi-plak-wagn" and a "kekauviscoe
saster." "Oh help!" wails Chunky.
CHAPTER X--BLAZING A FOREST TRAIL
"Every time you turn around the scenery has shifted." Learning to
live in the woods. Birch bark lights the way. "Silver Face is
calling me." A difficult job done well.
CHAPTER XI--FACING NEW OBSTACLES
Camping in the rain in the dark of night. "Don't be scared, boys, I'm
going to shoot!" Stacy decides that he has had enough. Tad Butler
noses out the way.
CHAPTER XII--CHUNKY MEETS A BULL MOOSE
"Indians have sharp eyes." Stacy beholds a terrifying sight.
Charged by an angry moose. Too frightened to yell. The bull bumps
his head against a tree.
CHAPTER XIII--AN EXCITING DAY IN CAMP
The fat boy slays his helpless victim. "I did it with my knife."
Chunky's boasts are loud and vigorous. Tad Butler makes a little
investigation on his own hook. The guide holds opinions about
Stacy's bravery.
CHAPTER XIV--LAID UP BY AN ACCIDENT
Broken bones put the guide out of business. First aid to the
injured. Chunky lets the cat out of the bag. The timber cruiser
hears the story of the fat boy's prowess. "I guess I've got a right
to talk about myself if I want to."
CHAPTER XV--A DISASTROUS JOURNEY
Bears strip the camp food. Charlie John and Stacy set out for town.
"I'd like to see the place where Chunky could not get into trouble."
The Indian returns alone. "Chunky is in jail at Matungamook!"
CHAPTER XVI--BAD NEWS FROM THE FRONT
Pony Rider Boys go to their chum's assistance. A grilling night
journey. Charlie John leads the way. The arrival at the scene of
trouble. Twittering birds the harbingers of an eventful day.
CHAPTER XVII--CHUNKY IN A PREDICAMENT
A frying pan awakens the Indian. "Game warden git fat boy!" What
came of Stacy's bragging. Called before the bar of justice. "Where
is the prisoner?"
CHAPTER XVIII--THE VERDICT OF THE COURT
"Stacy did not leave much to the imagination, did he?" The same old
moose with new trimmings. "Stacy Brown, stand up!" The fat boy brags
to the court. The Professor voices his indignation. "One hundred
dollars and costs! Pay your fine or go to jail!"
CHAPTER XIX--PAYING THE FIDDLER
"Can you cross my palm for $128.50?" Not money enough in the outfit
to pay Chunky's fine. Stacy loses his pony. Looks like a week of
fasting for the Pony Rider Boys. Dead broke in the Maine woods. The
wolf at the door.
CHAPTER XX--"LOOK WHO'S HERE!"
Tad and Ned get a job and earn fifty cents. His companions punish
the fat boy. Cale Vaughn hears the news and hurried to town. The
guide proves himself a friend in need.
CHAPTER XXI--YOUNG WOODSMEN ON THE TRAIL AGAIN
"I don't want to be like other folks." Blaze marks lead the boys
astray. Tad follows a year-old trail. On the verge of a panic. "We
are lost!" declares Butler.
CHAPTER XXII--LOST IN THE BIG WOODS
"When you are lost sit down and think it over." Tad and Stacy find
themselves in a predicament. "There is nothing like being a cheerful
idiot." "Get ready for Trouble!"
CHAPTER XXIII--AN EXCITING QUEST
The ponies stampeded. A raging moose wrecks the camp. Chunky up a
tree again. Tad shows his resourcefulness. Dishes are made from
bark. Dining with nature.
CHAPTER XXIV--THE SIGNAL SMOKE
Tad rounds up the live stock. "Chunky would hoodoo the best organized
force in the world." Cale Vaughn on the trail of the lost. "Heap big
smoke!" Charlie John makes a discovery. The end of the long trail.
CHAPTER I
A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT
"Here's Tad. He'll tell us," cried Walter Perkins. "Oh, Tad, how
long a trip is it to the Maine Woods from here?"
"That depends upon whether you walk or ride," answered Tad Butler,
walking slowly up to the barn of Banker Perkins where three
brown-faced boys were sitting in the doorway, polishing bridles,
mending saddles and limbering up their lassos.
"Of course you know what we mean," urged Ned Rector with a grin.
"Yes, I know what you mean."
"He isn't mean. You're the mean one," interjected Stacy Brown,
otherwise known among his fellows as Chunky, the Fat Boy.
"Chunky, remember we are at home in Chillicothe now and are supposed
to set examples to our less fortunate fellow citizens. Any fellow
who can get into the village paper the way you have done ought to
hold his head pretty high," chuckled Rector.
Stacy threw out his chest.
"You mean that lion-catching article?"
Ned nodded.
"Yes, that was a pretty swell article. They think I'm the original
wonder here in Chillicothe."
"You are. There can be no doubt of that," laughed Tad.
"I'm glad you've come, Tad," continued Ned, turning to young Butler.
"We are planning for the new trip to the Maine Woods. I shall be
glad to get east. I've never been far east. Any of the rest of you
been east?"
"Well, I have been out to Skinner's farm. That's east of the
village," declared Stacy Brown.
"Please, please!" begged Ned, a pained expression appearing on his
face. "Leave all that sort of nonsense to entertain us after we get
into the woods. We don't mind so much your playing the fool when we
are away from home, but here it is different. We don't want to be
disgraced in this town where we are--"
"Some pumpkins," finished Chunky.
"Well, yes; that's it, I guess," agreed Ned.
"We were waiting for you to talk over what we should take along,"
declared Walter. "I have been studying and reading and talking with
Abe Parkinson, who, you know, used to live up in Maine. He says we
must travel very light; that going is hard up there in the woods. He
says we don't want an ounce of excess baggage, or we'll never get
anywhere. Do you know anything about it, Tad?"
"Yes. I guess Mr Parkinson is right about that. It will be real
roughing, perhaps more so than anything you fellows ever have
experienced, for you will be a long way from civilization."
"But we'll get plenty to eat, won't we?" begged Stacy, glancing
anxiously at Tad.
"You usually do."
"Chunky can browse on green leaves if we get out of food," chuckled
Rector.
"Now, I call that real mean," complained the fat boy. "What did I
ever do to you to merit such a fling as that?"
"You made a noise like a rattlesnake once and got me dumped into the
bushes. Remember that?"
Chunky did. An appreciative grin spread over his round face.
"I haven't got even with you for that, but I shall some day and mine
will be a terrible revenge. Br-r-r!"
"Oh, fudge!" scoffed the fat boy. "You talk easily, but no one is
afraid of you."
"We aren't here to fight," reproved Walter. "We are here to talk over
our journey, and now that Tad has arrived let's get to business, as
father would say."
"Especially if you owed him money and couldn't pay it," laughed
Stacy.
"Are you all ready, Tad?"
Tad's face grew serious.
"Boys, I'm afraid I can't go with you this time," answered Butler
in a low tone.
"Can't go?" exploded the boys.
"No, I think not, this time. Some other time, perhaps."
"Nonsense! Is this some kind of joke?" demanded Rector.
"It's no joke, Ned. I mean it."
"But what--why--"
"I'll tell you, boys."
"Don't tell us. We can't bear to hear disagreeable things," mourned
Stacy.
"Go on, Tad, we want to know," urged Walter.
"Well, the whole thing is that Mother isn't well. She hasn't been
well all winter. She is not so well now as she was a month ago,
and--"
Tad swallowed and moistened his lips with his tongue.
"I couldn't think of leaving her alone, just now; no, not for
anything."
"Then you won't go?" questioned Stacy.
Tad shook his head.
"That settles it. Neither will I," decided Chunky.
"Oh, yes you will. You will go on just the same as before, and you
will have just as good a time. After you get out into the open again
you'll forget that I am not along."
"What! Do you think I would trust my precious person to these
savages?" demanded the fat boy with a gesture that took in Ned Rector
and Walter Perkins. "Why, I'd never come back!"
"No great loss if you didn't," muttered Rector.
Tad laughed.
"You are old enough to take care of yourself, Chunky. You will have
the Professor to protect you in case anything goes wrong."
"No, we can't have it that way," declared Perkins, with a slow shake
of the head. "If you don't go, we don't. But really, I don't see
why you can't. My folks will look after Mrs. Butler, and--"
Tad shook his head with emphasis.
"My mind is made up," he said.
"Oh, that's too bad," groaned the lads. "That's a burning shame,"
added Stacy. "I'm hot all over. That's why I know it's a burning
shame."
"Leave off joking," commanded Ned savagely. "This isn't anything to
laugh about. What appears to be the matter with your mother, Tad?"
"I--I think it's her lungs," replied the boy a bit unsteadily.
"What she needs is mountain air," declared Chunky. "I know. She
ought to go to the mountains."
"I agree with you," said Tad. "It is my idea that I can get her to
go with me, for part of the summer at least, and then--"
"What's the matter with taking her along with us?" interrupted
Rector.
"No, that wouldn't do," answered Tad. "She couldn't stand it."
"Of course she couldn't. That shows how much you know, Ned Rector,"
scoffed Stacy Brown.
"What do you propose to do all summer, Tad?" asked Ned thoughtfully.
"Oh, I shall work at something. I'm not going to be idle. Perhaps
Mr. Perkins will have something to do that will keep me out of
mischief for the summer after I get back," answered Butler with a
faint smile.
"It's my opinion that this is all foolishness," declared Ned. "I'm
going to see your mother."
Tad laid a hand on Ned's arm. "Please say nothing to my mother about
it. My mind is made up, and that's all there is to it. Of course,
it will be a bitter disappointment to me not to go with you, but I
guess I shall get over it. It would be more bitter to me if
anything--anything happened to mother."
"And Professor is coming on next week," muttered Walter. "I guess we
had better give it up for this season, fellows."
"No. I won't have it that way," urged Tad. "You'll make me feel
worse about it if you do anything like that. Your plans are made."
"Yes, we will let things stand as they are for the present," agreed
Rector. "But I shan't give up the idea that you are going with us.
Why--but what's the use in talking about it? Walt, is your father at
home?"
"He is at the bank."
"Then I'm going over to see him."
"What about?" questioned Tad suspiciously.
"I've got a little matter of business that I want to talk over with
him."
"Want to borrow some money, eh?" grinned Chunky.
"No, we'll leave that business to you."
"That reminds me, Tad, could you--could you cross my palm for five
cents this afternoon?" asked the fat boy solemnly.
"Eh? Do what?"
"Cross my palm for five cents?"
"Say, this is a new habit, isn't it, this borrowing money?"
"Oh, I'll pay you back when I get my allowance," protested Stacy.
"I wasn't thinking about that. Take my word for it, this borrowing
business is bad business," rebuked Tad.
"Didn't I always pay you back everything I borrowed of you?"
protested Stacy indignantly.
"Yes, yes, but--here's five cents. Will that be enough?"
"Well," reflected the fat boy, "you might make it twenty-five if
you are flush today."
Tad passed over a quarter, the other boys regarding the proceeding
with disapproving eyes.
"Now that you have made a touch, is it permissible to ask what you
are going to do with all that money?" inquired Rector.
"It is."
"Well?"
"They've got a lot of fresh buns over at the bakery. I can get
thirty-six of them for a quarter. It's a bargain, too."
"Buns!" growled Ned in a tone of disgust. "Don't you ever think of
anything but something to eat?"
"Yes--something that I haven't got to eat."
"Go get your buns and pass them around," suggested Walter smilingly.
"I guess not. There won't be more than enough for me," answered
Stacy.
"There's selfishness for you," nodded Ned.
But Ned did Stacy an injustice. The fat boy was simply teasing the
others. He intended to bring back the "bargain" and share it with
his companions, which he did shortly after that, though Tad was not
there to help eat the hot buns that Stacy brought.
Little more was said on the subject nearest to the hearts of the
boys, but their disappointment was keen at Tad's decision not to
accompany them on their visit to the Maine Woods, for which place
they were to start within a few days.
"I can't wait for the buns," said Tad. "I must be getting home, but I
will help you boys get ready for the trip and see you off."
"No, you won't see us off," shouted Ned. "You will see yourself off
along with the rest of us."
To this young Butler merely shook his head as he turned away,
retracing his steps towards home. For a few minutes after Tad's
departure, Ned Rector and Walter Perkins sat with heads closed
together, talking earnestly. Finally Walter got up and started for
his father's place of business at a brisk walk. Later in the
afternoon there was a conference between Walter and his parents.
In the meantime, Tad had gone home. He had been insistent that he
would not leave his mother, and Mrs. Butler was fully as insistent
that he should accompany his companions on their coming journey. But
Tad was firm. It was the first time he ever had opposed his mother
so stubbornly. Mrs. Butler had been ailing for some time and Tad was
greatly worried over her condition. It was this concern for the
mother that was on the boy's mind now, rather than his disappointment
at not being able to go with his friends. There was only one
encouraging factor; his mother, while not well-to-do, was far from
being in want. Though she did not feel that she should incur the
expense of going away, Tad was determined that she should.
Late in the afternoon Banker Perkins and his wife called at the
Butler home and had a long talk with Mrs. Butler. Tad had ridden
out of town on his pony to bring in some horses that had been shipped
in from the west to be sold. There were some "tough ones" in the
bunch of western stock, and none of the town boys could be induced to
help corral and drive in the stock for the owner. This work was a
recreation for Tad, and the five dollars a day that he received for
his services during the sale, in cutting out, roping and riding
mustangs for prospective buyers, he considered the easiest money he
had ever earned. Besides this, Tad's riding was an exhibition in
itself, and it drew scores of spectators. The result was that the
five dollars a day paid to Tad was a most excellent investment for
the owner.
The coast being clear for the rest of the afternoon, Mr. Perkins and
his wife were uninterrupted in their talk with Mrs. Butler. Mrs.
Butler, like her son, possessed a mind of her own, and the banker had
some difficulty in bringing her around to his point of view, but
before the Perkinses left the Butler home Mrs. Butler had agreed to
their plans, not so much on her own account as that of the boy of
whom she was so justly proud. It was decided between them, however,
to leave matters as they were for the present.
"I want to try the boy a little further," added the banker. "Of
course, I know him pretty well now, but if he goes through with what
he has declared he will, you need never worry about his success in
life. A boy who can do that is all right in every way."
The week drew to a close. Tad had completed his work with the horse
dealer and collected his money, which he turned over to his mother on
Saturday night.
"At this rate I'll be able to retire by and by," smiled the lad.
"You will have more money to spend on your trip this summer," was the
reply.
"Yes. My trip with you to the mountains."
"Oh, no, I didn't mean that. You know what I mean, Tad."
"I'm not going, mother. My mind is made up."
"Will it be much of a disappointment to you if you do not go with
your friends?"
"Now, you know it won't," replied Tad playfully, as he passed an arm
around his mother's waist. "What fun could I possibly have that would
compare with going away with you and seeing you grow back into
perfect health?"
Mrs. Butler smiled proudly, though she sighed at the thought of the
pleasant jaunt that her son offered so readily to give up.
A few days later the other boys decided that they would go on without
Tad if they must, though they grumbled a good deal. Tad Butler came
forward, taking a hearty interest in all their preparations for this
hike in the saddle. He put their kits in shape, made a new lariat
for Ned Rector, mended the tents, and in general threw himself as
heartily into all the advanced work as though he were going himself.
On the day of their departure Professor Zepplin arrived to take
charge of the party, as he had been doing for several seasons past.
Three of the boys and the Professor rode to the station, there to car
their stock, Tad plodding along on foot, feeling strangely unfamiliar
with himself at such a time. Yet, from young Butler's face, one
would have thought him the happiest of all the party that gathered at
the station, and perhaps down in his heart he was happy, knowing that
he was doing what he knew to be his duty to the mother that he loved
so well. There was a real shadow, however, on the happiness of his
companions--the inability of Tad to go with them on their summer's
outing.
Mr. Perkins was at the station to see the boys off. He, with Tad and
half a hundred villagers, stood on the platform waving their hats and
shouting their good-byes to the departing Pony Rider Boys. As the
train pulled out, Stacy Brown was observed hanging over the railing
of the rear coach wiping his eyes and pretending to weep, while the
spectators laughed at the funny sight.
Mr. Perkins turned inquiringly to Tad.
"Well, Tad, I suppose this isn't a particularly happy occasion for
you?" he said.
"Why not sir?"
"Don't you feel the least bit disappointed that you are not on that
train yonder?"
"Of course I am disappointed, but I am satisfied that I have done
right. That's the best sort of happiness after all. Don't you think
so, Mr. Perkins?"
For answer the banker extended an impulsive hand, clasping Tad's in a
strong, appreciative grip. Tad walked back with Mr. Perkins, leaving
him at the latter's place of business, then the lone Pony Rider Boy
strolled meditatively homeward.
Reaching the yard, Tad walked around to the stable, which he entered,
and stepping into the stall of his pony, he patted the little animal
affectionately.
The pony whinnied appreciatively.
"Well, old boy," said Tad, "you are disappointed just the same as am
I. But we'll have a good many nice rides this summer. We'll ride
out every night to fetch Deacon Skinner's cows home, and maybe we'll
rope one now and then just to keep our hands in. Shall we have a
little ride now just to forget, you know? All right, come along
then."
The pony backed from its stall as if fully understanding the words of
its master. A few moments later Tad was galloping away from town,
the little hoofs of his pet mount throwing up a cloud of dust on the
broad highway that led to the open country and the fresh green
fields.